A phytobiome is the collection of plants and their associated communities of organisms in a given environment, as well as the environment itself. The associated organisms, which may be inside, on the surface, or adjacent to plants, include a wide diversity of microbes (viruses, bacteria, fungi, oomycetes, and algae), animals (arthropods, worms, nematodes, and rodents, for example), and other plants. The environment includes the physical and chemical environment influencing plants and their associated organisms, and therefore, the soil, air, water, and climate.
Contents
Interactions within phytobiomes are dynamic and profoundly affect plant and agroecosystem health, which in turn impacts soil fertility, crop yields, and food quality and safety.
Enhanced knowledge of the phytobiome network can be translated into new tools for agriculture and natural resource preservation.
The sphere of relevance of phytobiomes is broad, spanning from crops (commodity crops, fruits, vegetables, forest, and specialty and bioenergy crops), rangelands, grasslands, and natural ecosystems to consumer products, including the quality, nutritional value, and safety of our foods.
Groups studying phytobiomes
On 25 February 2016, a group of scientific societies, companies, research institutes, and governmental agencies launched the Phytobiomes Roadmap presenting a new vision for agriculture to increase health, productivity, and sustainability of our current cropping and forest systems.
The Phytobiomes Roadmap outlines a strategic plan for acquiring the critical knowledge of how all of the components on a farm – the crops, plants, microbes, animals, soils, and climate – interact and affect each other. This entire system influences the health and productivity of plants, plant ecosystems, and all who consume the plants and plant products.
The Roadmap lays out an action plan to translate phytobiomes knowledge into new tools for crop management to produce a sufficient supply of food, feed, and fiber to meet the demand of an additional 2.4 billion people by 2050.
The Phytobiomes Alliance, is an industry-academic collaborative initiative focused on building a phytobiome-based foundation for accelerating the sustainable production of food, feed, and fiber.
Publications
Phytobiomes is an open-access journal published by the American Phytopathological Society (APS). The journal focuses on transdisciplinary research that impacts the entire plant ecosystem.